A Hard Day's Night
by shadyvak
Summary: Clare and Eli come home from closing night of the show to find a lonely Jake. Eclare fluff and my attempt at starting a new Jake and Eli friendship. ONE-SHOT.


**This is a one-shot, hope you guys enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi, West Drive, or Special K. **

An almost-empty gallon of milk, some lunchmeat, leftover pasta, a few apples…Jake frantically searched the refrigerator in hopes of satisfying his late-night hunger. But after stumbling over moldy tomatoes, he cringed and accepted defeat, grabbing a box of Helen's Special K and pouring himself a bowl. He used the last of the milk, making sure to put the empty carton back in the fridge just to get on Clare's nerves.

The house was empty, with Helen and his dad gone for the night to the cabin and Clare at the _Romeo and Jules_ cast party with Eli. Jake glanced at the clock on the stove: **12:45**. _How does time pass so slowly when no one else is around? _he thought. "Might as well stay up until Clare gets home," he mumbled to himself, trying not to think about why she was out so late. He had wanted to crash Katie and Marisol's sleepover (kicking the latter out, of course), but his girlfriend insisted the two have some "girl time" since her and Jake had been spending so much time working on fixing the garden lately, _and doing other fun things_, Jake thought with a smile.

Suddenly, he heard a car pull into the driveway, a door shutting, and laughter.

"Come on, Eli! Our parents aren't even home! And Jake's probably asleep."

Oh no, Jake did not like the sound of this.

"Just come in, please? Or will I have to convince you, Mr. Director?"

"Well, Edwards, I _could_ be convinced," Eli said, and Jake could only guess what happened for the next minute. Meanwhile, Jake just poured himself some dry Special K. After Jake heard some "I love you's" exchanged (and almost spit out his cereal), the door opened and Eli pushed Clare up against the wall, starting to kiss her. Clearly, the two were both too wrapped up in each other to notice the lanky, brown-haired, eye-rolling, plaid-clad guy eight feet away.

"Guys! Hello? I'm right here!" Jake exclaimed, slightly offended by the entire situation.

Clare and Eli broke apart like they were on fire at the sound of Jake's voice. "Jake! What are you doing here?" Clare exclaimed, face red as a strawberry. She shot a mortified look to Eli, who was rubbing his hand on the back of his neck.

"Oh, I don't know, Clare, maybe the fact that I live here? Can't a guy eat a midnight snack in peace?"

Eli spoke up, "Jake, I'm really sorry, I guess I should get going-"

"No!" Clare and Jake said in tandem, giving each other confused looks.

Clare looked at Jake expectantly, searching for an explanation. "Uh…I mean, I'm sorry I interrupted you guys. I know how much I would hate Clare to be here while Katie and I-"

"Jake! I don't want to hear this!" Clare interjected, exasperated.

"What I mean to say is, you guys go do whatever, just not in my line of vision. I'll just…keep eating cereal."

Clare shot up an eyebrow, but gave him a smile. "Not to mention the most girly cereal in existence. Special K, Jake? Trying to watch that waistline? Or better yet, grow a butt?"

"Wow, very funny, Clare. You're a _real_ comedian. Eli, do you see how she treats me? I try to do something nice and she insults the size of my ass."

"If you could even call it that…" Clare mumbled, and Jake picked up a handful of Special K flakes right from his bowl and threw them at her.

Until then, Eli had just stood there, silently watching the stepsiblings interact, pleased with the clear brother and sister relationship that had formed between them. "Alright guys, maybe you should cool it before your parents come home to World War III."

"Gladly," Clare said, picking Special K from her curls. "Come on, Eli." She grabbed him by the hand and pulled him up the stairs. Eli shot Jake a look that said, "I'm-sorry-but-I-really-want-to-go-make-out-with-my-girlfriend". At least that's what Jake assumed.

He just shook his head and took another bite of Special K.

* * *

As soon as they reached Clare's room, she let out a yawn, failing at her attempt to hide her exhaustion from Eli. "Clare, you're obviously dead tired; you're practically falling asleep standing up!"

"But Eli, I want to-"

He took her face in his hands and stopped her with a chaste kiss. "Edwards. Go to sleep. Don't worry, I'll still love you in the morning," he comforted.

One look into those loving green eyes and she couldn't argue; she was too tired to put up a fight anyway. "Can you stay?"

"I was planning to stay over Adam's after the cast party anyway, and I guess I already blew him off considering it's 1 AM. So…maybe one kiss could convince me?" Eli smirked, and Clare cocked her head and crossed her arms.

"You're pretty demanding tonight, Goldsworthy. But it's okay, just this once. All directors have their diva moments," she said as she stepped towards him.

"_Diva moments_? God, Clare, wh-" But Clare cut him off by gently pressing her lips to his, making him forget everything but the sweet, sweet taste of her honey lip balm. She sucked on his bottom lip, lightly running her tongue over it, making him shiver in delight. She reached up and ran her fingers through his soft waves while the other played with his black bowtie.

She tilted her head up to whisper, ever so softly, "Convincing enough?" Her cool breath tingled against his ear. Seeing his reaction, Clare ran her tongue down the edge of his ear, turning it into soft kisses as she got to his jaw line.

"Oh, Clare…" Eli seemed to want to push her away but couldn't find the willpower. She sensed this, pulled away, and showed him her own smirk. "How am I supposed to say no to you?"

"I think that was the point, Eli."

He grunted, shaking his head. "Why don't you get yourself ready for bed and I'll text Adam. That is, if he's still awake."

Clare suddenly got nervous. "Oh, Eli, I'm a little too tired for that…"

He knew that she had taken his statement the wrong way and he stepped closer to pull her in by her waist. "Clare, I didn't mean _get ready for bed_, I just meant you can change into your pajamas, take a shower, whatever girls do." Clare let out a sigh of relief, kissed his cheek, and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

* * *

Meanwhile, Eli decided he might as well apologize to Jake for the incident earlier. He sauntered down the stairs to find Jake on the couch, eating ice cream, and watching… "Is that 'West Drive'?" Eli couldn't help but ask as the cheesy teen soap opera played out on the screen. Even Eli knew the theme song from countless times hearing Tristan humming it or answering his phone. Jake turned around, picked up the remote, and pretended to be flipping through the channels, but Eli had already seen the damage. "No judgment, dude, it's fine by me." He put up his hands in surrender, and Jake guiltily flipped back.

"Hey, a guy can only live with two girls for so long before he starts picking up on their tastes. Plus, girls love when you can talk about TV shows with them; they get really into all these couples and the drama. And I have to admit, even though West Drive is so bad, there's something about it that just sucks you in, you know?"

Eli nodded, even though he had no idea what Jake was talking about. But, he knew Clare was into West Drive, and maybe Jake was right about girls; the guy seriously got around. "So…any way you could give me a West Drive crash course in half an hour?"

Jake smiled. "I knew you were a smart man."

Half an hour later, Eli found himself surprisingly entertained by all the interesting things he was learning about West Drive, and his girlfriend. "Oh, and Clare's favorite girl character is Amanda, you know, the one dating Ethan? It's weird, the two are so alike…" Jake rambled, "And she gets so annoyed when Alli obsesses over this one guy Matt. She always complains that he's too much of a player, but personally, I like the guy…" Jake had gone on about Clare's opinion and his likes and dislikes about a few characters when they found themselves talking about other things.

"So where are you thinking about going to college?" Eli asked Jake.

"Actually, that's a funny story…"

"How'd you get so involved with theater?"

"How long have you and Clare's families known each other?"

"Once I threw a dead frog at her…"

"Once I crashed a car for her…"

"He almost _stabbed _you!?"

"Eli, have you seen Darcy? I met her over skype once and damn…"

"We made a movie of _Romeo and Juliet_ with Adam."

"She saw me changing in her kitchen."

"She had you take a _Sizzleteen _quiz? Seriously? I'm not standing for that…"

"I found her in that house, and there was like, a whole secret room of marijuana…"

" 'Make sure you stack up on condoms, Jake, this one's fertile!'"

" 'Did you flip a switch and erase me from your memory?'"

"I was like, 'Does said guy favor the color black?'"

"She was _wasted_. Talk about a lightweight, I mean, one beer?"

"I told him to follow Tristan's lead, then I told him to go have sex with his girlfriend. I give expert advice."

"I thought she was into _Dallas_, after all that time with me!"

Eli looked at the time. **3:22**. He jumped up when he realized Clare had been getting ready over two hours ago. "Jake, sorry, I have to go up with Clare! I just lost track of time!"

"Go ahead," he replied. "Don't have too much fun though, I _am_ her brother, after all."

"I'll keep that in mind. See you Monday, I guess?"

"Guess you will."

* * *

Eli ran up the steps and burst into Clare's room, only to find her sound asleep, curled into a fetal position, clutching her blanket. It was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen. Barely able to keep his eyelids open, he tucked himself under the covers as close as he could to Clare, wrapping a gentle arm around her waist. Still asleep, Clare adjusted herself against Eli's body, and he couldn't help but think that they were in love even while they were asleep. He leaned up to kiss her disheveled curls, still wet from the shower, and the only words going through his head were "forever and always."

**Thanks for getting this far! Review? (:**


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